Today, a lightly rainy afternoon, we were invited to Club Campestre Guaymaral by one of my husband's senior colleagues. The club is located north of Bogota, about 45 minutes out of the city depending on traffic (which of course always exists)! As we drove into the complex, it was extremely impressive, beautiful, verdant and very well kept up. We passed horse stables, an expansive golf course, and saw many tennis courts in the distance and a lovely clubhouse! In some ways, it reminded me of West Virginia's famous The Greenbrier Resort though the feeling is distinctively different. Though also very 'white' there is a different feeling of 'white' in Latin America than the 'whites only' feeling of the American South. (Both of course are a bit unsettling, but for me it seems a bit more pronounced - elitist - in Latin America.)
We had a delicious lunch - the special menu was focused on Mexican cuisine - and we were extremely well attended to, I must admit. There are so many staff people underfoot, and even a dessert cart came out in the end. [Of note, there were tons of young children around, including lots of strollers, and in Latin America they are always welcome and well cared for.]
We were told that as we hold diplomatic status, we would be exempt from paying the initiation fee, but would have yearly fees of about $5000USD - around $500USD per month.
We are considering joining a private club as a social outlet though I'm not sure if 1) this would the style in which we would like to live, and 2) if this would be worth it for us if we just went 1-2 times per month. It seems the money could be spent in other ways in a more productive way for us. We would like to see some other clubs, but I certainly did enjoy our time though I'm not sure about the elite feeling of a private club.
[Update Dec 11 - I wonder if the "invitation" to a club in Colombia is the equivalent of being "invited to an asado" in Argentina... words that are thrown around but never "cumplidas"? I was recently chatting with someone from our new daycare (jardin infantil) and the person, who is actually fro Spain and married to an Argentine put forth this invite. Thoughts anyone?]
Love and equality,
Avila
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